Sindh MPA wants law that forces parents to wed off children at 18 years of age

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) MPA Syed Abdul Rasheed submitted a draft of “The Sindh Compulsory Marriage Act, 2021” to the Sindh Assembly Secretariat on Wednesday which seeks to make marriage compulsory for people aged 18 years.

The bill says that if parents are unable to comply, they will provide a “justified reason of delay” before the deputy commissioner of the district. If they fail to report to the DC, authorities will impose a fine of Rs500.

According to MPA Rasheed, this bill has been submitted in accordance with Islamic teachings. “Rising rape cases, social ills, immorality, and immoral crimes can be reduced by following Sharia teachings…and marrying off children by 18 or puberty,” he said.

The government should introduce laws and make efforts to ensure austerity in marriage functions, he added, hoping that his proposed law would be helpful in supporting the youth and curbing immoral activities in society.

Rasheed said the government should play its part to make marriages an easy task with no undue burden on parents in accordance with the teachings of Islam.

MPA Sadia Javed said that Islam has not made 18 a compulsory age for marriage. A person at 18 does not complete his education degree, which means he is unlikely to be employed by then. No one would want their daughter married to an unemployed person, she said.